By James Dampney AFL.com
Greater Western Sydney GIANTS coach Kevin Sheedy is welcoming the anticipated return of Gary Ablett on Saturday when the GIANTS take on Gold Coast in Canberra.
There is plenty of interest surrounding the clash between the AFL's two newest teams at Manuka Oval, with GWS chasing the first win in its history and the Suns their first victory for the season.
Ablett has missed the past two weeks with a knee injury, but has returned to running and is considered a strong chance to face the Giants.
The ever-confident Sheedy wants him to play and has even backed one of his youngsters to meet him head-on.
"We're happy that Gary Ablett and the boys are coming to Canberra to play," Sheedy told reporters on Tuesday.
"When you see a great player like Gary Ablett Jr play, and you want to promote the great game of AFL, we don't want them missing out.
"Now we're going to have to find a player to play on him and beat him and I think we'll do that.
"Some of our younger players are performing extremely well.
"We've lost some tall players (injured duo Setanta O'hAilpin and Dean Brogan), but not in the running division, so we'll be at our best there."
The master coach and his assistants are also earning praise for the job they are doing building the AFL's youngest club.
GWS surprised many with its hard, contested football against Carlton last week and led to the almost unthinkable – former Essendon coach Sheedy receiving praise from Blues fans.
"You definitely get a flavour of that when you get Carlton people come up to you after the game and say 'what are you feeding them up there?'" he said.
"Or 'how can these kids play like that after six or eight hours of AFL footy?'
"It takes a long time to become an AFL player.
"The good thing about it is they're playing smart footy for a team that's been together for about three months of training."
Saturday's game at Manuka Oval will pit two desperate teams together and Sheedy feels his side is ready to claim its inaugural AFL victory.
"We have this game between the two babies of the AFL," he said.
"We're in the pram and probably the Gold Coast Suns are going to push it.
"The two youngest clubs in AFL history are going to be playing, it's going to be a magnificent game, and we're about due to win.
"We're going after the Gold Coast Suns."
